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Not Your Average Joe

You like your eggs fresh from the farm, so why would you drink coffee that’s been in a warehouse for two months? With local roasters all over the state, there’s no reason you have to. “Fresh-roasted coffee gives you the best flavor profile and intensity,” says Timothy Schilling, the interim executive director of the Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative. Known in the biz as “The Geekery,” the GCQRI is part of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M, focusing on research and development in the forty countries where arabica coffee beans are grown. “Two weeks after roasting, the coffee will have lost its flavor punch,” Schilling continues. “It’ll be drinkable, but it won’t jump out and grab your tongue like fresh-roasted coffee will.” Where to find it? Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters (Dallas), Katz Coffee (Houston), Cuvée Coffee Roasting Company (Spicewood), and AJ Coffee Company (Lubbock) sell their beans widely, both direct and wholesale. And chances are, if the store or restaurant that you’re drinking coffee in carries a variety of locally roasted beans, they are also paying close attention to the other things (equipment, water temperature, water quality) that make the very finest cup of joe.